"S-Sister Yuan, you're too close!"
Fang Yue was startled, and his body stiffened.
"Hehe, A-Yue, how about you teach me to become a pro gamer?"
"Sister Yuan, isn't your job pretty good?"
"Ugh, don't get me started. It's such a headache. Just tell me, are you going to teach me or not?"
"If you really want to get into this line of work, Sister Yuan, I'll do everything I can to help. It's just that I'm not doing so well myself..."
"Hehe, that's true..."
Sister Yuan's expression dimmed again. She gave Fang Yue a silly grin for a moment, then suddenly patted her cheeks with both hands in an adorable gesture.
"I'm going to dry my hair. We'll head out in a bit."
As she spoke, Sister Yuan had already slipped into Fang Yue's room.
"Wait! Sister Yuan, are you free tomorrow?"
"Depends. Why?"
Sister Yuan poked her head out.
"I made a little money in the game, so I want to treat you to a meal and celebrate."
"Sure!" A fresh, adorable smile blossomed on Sister Yuan's face. She grinned, showing her teeth. "I want a big feast!"
"Okay!"
With that settled, Fang Yue had finished clearing away the bowls and chopsticks. Just as he was about to return to his room, Sister Yuan suddenly poked her head out again, making him jump.
"Sister Yuan, what is it this time?"
"I forgot to mention this earlier. When I came back, there was a girl on the road downstairs asking people where you lived while holding your photo. She was really pretty. Don't tell me you got someone pregnant?"
"I'm still a virgin..."
Fang Yue almost blurted it out. Fortunately, he stopped himself in time, his face flushing red. "I didn't! I haven't! Don't slander me!"
He thought it over. In Jianghai City, he only knew his university classmates and the two people he shared an apartment with. He was careful about his private life, so how could some girl be looking for him?
"Hehe, maybe a distant relative came to visit."
"That can't be right. Are you sure she was looking for me?"
Sister Yuan pressed a finger to her chin, pursed her lips, and furrowed her brow as she thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure it was you. I only saw her from behind, but I'd recognize that white shirt with the red apple on it anywhere. I gave it to you for your birthday a few months ago."
Girls were usually pretty good at recognizing clothes, especially when Sister Yuan herself had picked that shirt out at a little shop. She couldn't have mistaken it.
A white shirt with a red apple on it?
Wasn't that the shirt I'd worn yesterday when I bought the Game Watch?
Could she really have been looking for me? But why...?
Something suddenly came to Fang Yue's mind.
The sheepskin parchment!
Damn! Could it be because of that?
Fang Yue suddenly felt a little scared.
Was she dangerous?
As he was thinking about it, Sister Yuan continued, "Anyway, after asking around and not finding out where you lived, she left."
"She left? You didn't tell her where I lived?"
As a pro gamer, Fang Yue rarely went out. Even his neighbors hardly ever saw him, let alone anyone else in the complex.
"Of course not," Sister Yuan said matter-of-factly. "Jokes aside, how could I just give your information to a stranger? What if she was a bad person? But... you haven't gotten yourself into any trouble, have you?"
"No, no. What trouble could a gamer like me possibly get into?"
"That's true."
Sister Yuan tossed her hair and went back to drying it. She was done before long, and after changing clothes in her room, she said goodbye to Fang Yue and headed out.
Fang Yue was still turning the matter over in his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Why was that woman investigating me?
Why did she leave so casually after failing to find me?
Would she come back?
What was she here for?
Thinking about it, Fang Yue picked up the sheepskin parchment and stared at it for a long while, but nothing happened.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it."
He sighed, pushed the matter out of his mind, put on the Game Watch, and flopped onto his bed to enter the game.
The room fell quiet, and words slowly began to appear on the sheepskin parchment.
"They've found me!"
"It's dangerous. I'm in danger now!"
"I was so startled that I forgot to give the idiot any hints..."
"I can't just sit here and wait for death. I need to give the idiot some power so he can protect me!"
"I hope he's already gained some powerful abilities in the Blue Sea game. Otherwise, even the cleverest cook can't make a meal without ingredients."
"Next time he comes out, I'll go persuade him! With his Lifespan, he should be able to pay the price."
Ping An Bounty Company.
Manager Liu's office.
Bang.
Chen Xiaomiao kicked open the door and walked in, yawning.
"Manager Liu, I'm here."
"Mm."
Manager Liu took a stack of documents from his desk drawer and put them on the table.
"Today's workload."
"This much?"
Chen Xiaomiao, who had just been yawning, widened her eyes and raised her voice. "Are all their investigators disabled? Did they get steel prosthetic legs after breaking their legs? Is that how they managed to cover so much ground in a single day? I wonder if they're tired. Should I thank their entire family or what?"
"...It means they're good at their jobs."
Manager Liu looked utterly speechless. What was with the snark from this new hire?
He didn't dwell on it and continued, "Did you investigate that matter today? Don't tell me you slacked off to play games again. When I checked on you, you were browsing game forums and replying to all kinds of posts under the ID 'Night Dawn.'"
"Manager Liu! You're such a creep! Spying on me while I browse the forums!"
"...It was work hours. You weren't doing your job. Was I not allowed to see what you were up to?"
"Seriously? Are there really companies that don't respect their employees' privacy? Seriously? Seriously? Can I sue you for sexual harassment?"
"...Fine, fine, I won't do it again. Let's talk about work, okay? Did you investigate today or not?"
At the mention of work, Chen Xiaomiao's expression drooped. "I did, I did. There are so many people; how could I investigate them all in one day? I went out of my way to check up on one person."
Manager Liu's face lit up. "What? You got a lead?"
"No. He was just some passerby. According to the investigators' report, he happened to be nearby at the time, so I checked him out while I was there."
Chen Xiaomiao looked disgusted. "The area where he lives is filthy and run-down. It's one of those cheap apartment complexes. I asked a few people, but nobody knew exactly where he lived, so I stopped looking."
"Why'd you stop? We need to investigate everyone thoroughly!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. There are so many people, and I'm doing this alone. Am I supposed to grow three heads and six arms to investigate every single one in detail? Besides, he was just passing by. He happened to be there, that's all. The odds are low."
"We still have to investigate... As for manpower, I'll assign more to you later. The company has a big job right now, so we can't spare anyone yet. You'll have to bear with it for a few days."
Chen Xiaomiao pouted, unconvinced by her boss's promise.
Listening to Manager Liu go on and on, all she wanted was to get off work and go home to play games.
"I'll try out that force-dispersal technique Night Dawn mentioned today and challenge someone from the Patrol Team."
Before you continue